The Rolling Stones’ Not Fade Away performance on The Mike Douglas Show hailed ‘excellent’ by fans

A performance of Not Fade Away by The Rolling Stones on The Mike Douglas Show has been hailed as “excellent” by fans of the band.

The band’s Buddy Holly cover was praised by viewers, with the performance having been uploaded to YouTube. Millions of views later and members of the public believe it’s an overall “excellent” performance from the Mick Jagger-fronted band. Praise was heaped on Brian Jones out of everyone for his instrumental work on the song, which formed part of The Rolling Stones’ appearance on the long-running American talk show. Aside from a humorous moment where drummer Charlie Watts has to explain his surname, the performance is standard Rolling Stones quality. The band were just five years out from releasing Beggars Banquet but had made a name for themselves already with their blues rock albums in the UK and US.

With Jagger shaking two maracas while the crowd screams on, it appeared to be quite the performance. It’s been praised by many viewers decades later, who called it an “excellent” experience of The Rolling Stones’ early, raw talent. Particularly Jones, whose work on harmonica was hailed as “very impressive” by viewers.

One fan wrote: “Excellent vocal and instrument mix. That’s the way it always should be. Brian Jones was the best instrumentalist of the band.” Another added: “Wow, Brian was really great on harmonica! He left us too soon.” A third shared: “Brian plays every damn instrument, very impressive.”

Others have since recalled watching the show when it was first broadcast and said the relatively unknown band left a lasting impression. One viewer wrote: “I remember watching this live as a young teenager at my parents home on a regular weekday late afternoon Mike Douglas TV Show.

“Was totally unexpected as I did not know then who The Rolling Stones were. Their appearance, performance and their witty comments through Mike’s light hearted interview impressed me very much. Found out later that most Canadian and American viewers were casually introduced to this soon to be iconic band shortly after.

“Also later found out that this first American appearance by The Stones was poorly promoted. The next time they came to North America was hugely different.” Another praised the band for pushing through the “uneasy atmosphere” of a talk show interview and segue into performance.

The viewer shared: “Shows you what consummate performers they were even at such a young age. I can’t imagine a more uneasy atmosphere for that interview, but they had it all together right from the start. A lot of times, groups take a while to get it together.”

A third added: “The Stones in their relative innocence. Even though they were not writing much if any of their own material at this point, when they break out into the song it’s like they cast a magic spell. This video is priceless.” You can watch The Rolling Stones’ Not Fade Away performance below.